et.

Quite as picturesque as the life of the streets are the buildings
which enclose them, and the great glory of Cairo consists of its
bazaars and mosques and old-time palaces.

The streets are usually irregular in width and often winding, and are
sometimes so narrow as to render driving impossible, for when Cairo
was built wheeled vehicles were not in use, and space within its walls
was limited. The houses are very lofty, and are built of limestone or
rubble covered with white plaster, and the lower courses are often
coloured in stripes of yellow, white, and red. Handsome carved
doorways open from the street, and the doors are panelled in bold
arabesque design, or enriched by metal studs and knockers of bronze.
The windows on the ground-floor, which are usually small, are closed
by a wooden or iron grating, and are placed too high in the wall for
passengers to look through them, and frequently, even in the best
houses, small recesses in the walls serve as shops.

The upper storeys usually project beyond the ground-floor, and are
supported on corbels or brackets of stone, which also are frequently
carved. This method of building has two advantages, for the projecting
upper storeys afford a little shade in the streets, and at the same
time give greater space to the houses without encroaching upon the
already narrow thoroughfares.

These upper storeys are very picturesque, for all the windows are
filled with lattice-work, and large window balconies supported on
carved wooden beams project far over the street. These are called
"mushrabiyehs," a name which is derived from an Arabic word which
means "the place for drink." Originally they were simply small cages
of plain lattice-work in which the water jars were placed to cool, but
as prosperity increased and the homes of the people became more
ornate, first the edges of the lattice-work were cut so as to form a
pattern, and the little cages presently developed into these large
balconies, which in place of simple lattice-work were enclosed by
screens formed of innumerable small pieces of turned wood built up so
as to form designs of great beauty, and behind which the ladies of the
harim might sit and enjoy the air and the animation of the streets
unseen.

Unfortunately this beautiful work is fast disappearing; visitors have
discovered how adaptable it is to home decoration, and the dealers in
Cairo eagerly buy up all that can be obtained to be converted into
those man